Out Leadership’s Business Climate Index for the 50 United States is an assessment of states’ performance on LGBTQ+ inclusion. It measures the impact government policies and prevalent attitudes have on the LGBTQ+ people residing in each state, quantifying the economic imperatives for inclusion and the costs of discrimination. It equips business leaders and policymakers with a clear sense of the most impactful steps states can take to make themselves more hospitable to forward-thinking, innovative, inclusive businesses.
out of a possible 100 points
The state makes it nearly seamless to update the gender markers on a state ID or birth certificate, neither of which require surgery. There are comprehensive nondiscrimination protections that cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
Conversion therapy for minors is banned in Oregon. Youths in foster care are protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender. Discrimination against potential adoptive parents on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited.
Oregon’s Governor and U.S. Senators all boast long and consistent track records of speaking up and voting for LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion. There are currently no laws allowing for religious exemptions from civil rights law.
State employees, as well as private insurance and Medicaid customers, all enjoy trans-inclusive healthcare coverage. Oregon has a comprehensive hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. HIV is not explicitly criminalized, but the state has prosecuted people living with the disease under general criminal laws.*
15% of transgender employees in Oregon reported being harassed in the past year due to their gender identity, and 17% reported mistreatment such as being forced to use a restroom not matching gender. 29% of LGBTQ+ individuals in Oregon reported food insecurity, nearly double the rate for non-LGBTQ+ people. 24% of LGBTQ+ individuals in Oregon reported making less than $24,000 per year. 7% of LGBTQ+ individuals report unemployment in Oregon, higher than the rate for non-LGBTQ+ peers (5%).
Download this report to learn how and why Out Leadership created the LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index for the 50 U.S. States, with important details about our methodology, including our data standards and practices. NOTE: *HIV criminalization laws are discriminatory and ineffective. These laws fail to account for advances made in treating and controlling HIV, may deter people from getting tested and seeking treatment, and can exacerbate the stigma targeting people living with HIV and LGBTQ+ people.
Our MethodologyThe legal and cultural situation for LGBTQ+ people varies widely across the country. This map, based on each state's total Business Climate Score, illustrates the states where LGBTQ+ people are empowered to participate more fully and openly in the economy, and the states that are lagging behind.
- 5.6% of Oregonians identify as LGBTQ+. Conservatively, that’s LGBTQ+ personal income of $11.7 billion – it’s a market my business can’t afford to ignore.
- When LGBTQ+ employees don’t feel welcome at work, they’re less likely to stay, and employee turnover is a drag on the state economy and business competitiveness. It costs companies an average of $10,202 to replace an employee in Oregon, and it can cost up to $452,177 to replace senior executives. Oregon and the businesses operating there have strong financial incentives to create inclusive workplaces in the interest of keeping these costs down.
- Oregon’s comprehensive nondiscrimination law protects LGBTQ+ people, so the state is already experiencing the positive economic impacts of such policies. One estimate suggests that the state’s economy may have grown 3%, or $6.8 billion, thanks to its inclusive approach. That said, there’s still a gap between policy and culture, and organizations in Oregon have a business imperative to ensure that LGBTQ+ people feel welcome in their workplaces.
- Millennial and Gen Z consumers prefer to do business with companies with LGBTQ+ friendly advertising and policies – 54% say they’re more likely to choose an LGBTQ+ inclusive brand over a competitor – which is why it’s important that Oregon continue to foster a business environment where being inclusive is supported.
Our partnerships make our work possible. The first State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index released in 2019 was funded by a grant from the Gill Foundation. The Index is based on data graciously shared by the Movement Advancement Project and the Williams Institute. Ropes & Gray is our pro bono legal partner for the CEO Business Briefs globally, and their research informs this Index. FCB partnered with us to conduct original market research into American attitudes toward LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion, informing the Regional Context section of the State CEO Briefs. America Competes supported the development of the scoring for the Risk Assessments, particularly for the Future Risk score.
Out Leadership and FCB partnered on original market research into the attitudes of American workers on LGBTQ+ inclusion, which fielded in 2019 and 2020. These briefs as a whole will be updated on an ongoing basis by Out Leadership because we recognize the ever-changing nature of policy on the local, state, and national level.
Overall, 52.5% of LGBTQ+ workers in the West are out at work. However, urbanicity has a big impact on whether LGBTQ+ workers feel comfortable sharing personal information at work (LGBTQ+ workers are 26% less likely to share when in rural areas vs 4% less likely to share in urban areas compared to national average). There is also a big impact when it comes to age and being open to managers, with older LGBTQ+ workers in this region being more likely to share with their managers than any other age group nationwide (52% more likely). West workers are also 14% more likely to report microaggressions at work which may be why LGBTQ+/Allies are also 15% more likely to say they want to work with companies that are more supportive of LGBTQ+ rights. Even though there are reports of microaggressions in the workplace, workers in this region were 35% less likely to say that the state’s leadership talked negatively about LGBTQ+ issues.
Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons for more or less likely are compared to the National results. Regional results are based off of 1,500 respondents (LGBTQ+ and Non-LGBTQ+ responses have been weighted to be age-representative for each audience in each region). National results are based off of 600 respondents representative of each audience (LGBTQ+ vs Non-LGBTQ+).
States in the Western region included: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
Legal status of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community
Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is banned in Oregon. The protections cover housing, employment, public accommodations, financial transactions, jury service, state institutions, foster parenting, and public school education.
The state has nondiscrimination laws that protect youths in foster care on the basis of gender and sexual orientation and gender identity.
Oregon does not have specific laws criminalizing HIV transmission, but that state has prosecuted people under general criminal laws.
Hate crimes protections in the state extend to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Oregon Law prohibits licensed health professionals from engaging in conversion therapy on minors.
Adoption agencies are prohibited from discriminating on religious grounds against potential parents on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Legal status of the Transgender Community
To update the gender markers or names on a birth certificate, individuals must submit a notarized application. No further steps are required.
To update the gender markers on a driver’s license, applicants must simply request a new one.
Oregon offers a nonbinary, or “x,” gender option for state IDs.
The state’s Medicaid program, Oregon Health Plan, covers the cost of gender affirmation surgery and hormone therapy.
Oregon law prohibits transgender exclusions in insurance.
Government statements and actions
The state banned the “gay panic defense” in 2021.
In October 2019, Governor Kate Brown promulgated an Executive Order addressing that all state agencies will need to expand restroom access, to accommodate anyone – state employee or otherwise – who is transgender, nonbinary or gender non-conforming. Also, Basic Rights Oregon has done trainings at every level with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, line staff, civil rights enforcement and directors, which has resulted in a highly responsive employment law and public accommodations law enforcement including things like official technical support documents such as “Pronouns in the workplace”.
In July 2019, the State House passed legislation to ensure that LGBTQ+ issues are taught in public schools, including elementary schools.
In March 2019, the House scrubbed offensive language from laws from the 1850s, deleting “transsexualism” and “transvestism” from Oregon’s employment anti-discrimination law and clarifying that sexual orientation isn’t a physical or mental impairment.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown became the first-ever openly LGBTQ+ person to hold that role when she was elected in 2014.
-
1No Risk
-
2Low Risk
-
3Moderate Risk
-
4Notable Risk
-
5High Risk
For more context around these scores, and to learn more about the criteria we used to assess how state laws, actions and attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people create business and talent risks, please visit www.outleadership.com/staterisk.
-
1No Risk
-
1No Risk
-
1No Risk
-
1No Risk
-
1No Risk
Status of LGBTQ+ Organizing and Community
There are more than 10 annual Pride festivals throughout the state.
The largest is Portland Pride, which has upwards of 60,000 attendees.
There are smaller, newer LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in rural parts of the state pushing for visibility and inclusion.
Cultural Views of the LGBTQ+ Community
62% of Oregonians oppose allowing small businesses a religious exemption to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers.
70% of Oregonians favor antidiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people.
Parents in the Dallas school district appealed a case alleging the policy of allowing students to use the facilities aligned with their gender identity violates Title IX. The case was thrown out of U.S. District Court last year, and the Supreme Court declined to hear it in December 2020.